The Application of Virtual Production

Virtual Production is the topic of conversation among film crews across the world right now. It is new. It is innovative. It is pushing the industry past its limits.

To help you gain a stronger understanding of the technology that is taking the industry by storm, we’ve created a simple guide to help explain the process behind virtual production.

To keep it simple, Virtual Production puts the power back in the hands of the key creatives. A director can now bring their ideas to life while filming and they’re able to make any changes they want, in real-time. They can literally pick up a tree, move it, then continue filming. Before this was possible, a director did their best to explain their visions to the crew, but it didn’t always turn out to be exactly what they wanted in the end, and by the time they realized this, it was too late to go back and make changes.

In an interview with Forbes, Ben Grossmann, Co-Founder of Magnopus, described it like this, “We’re building a game called ‘filmmaking,’ and we’re building the world of film in the game. Instead of guns or jet packs, we give the players traditional film equipment like cameras, dollies and lights.”

Let’s take a look at how this actually happens by reviewing a Virtual Production workflow in its simplest form.

Previs

Previs is where storyboards, animatics and assets are created, enabling the director to explore different angles for specific shots. Until a few years ago sequences that were created in Previs didn’t make it to final pixel. Because of recent technology advancements, previs tools are being created and used inside of Unreal Engine. This allows them to be utilized in Previs and taken all the way through to post and final pixel.

Virtual Asset Department (VAD)

This where the virtual set is actually built. A team of VAD artists create CG assets and environments that make up the virtual set and the virtual set is then rendered onto the LED panels for live action.

Since the rise of virtual production, films now take place in realistic virtual environments rather than real-life locations. For example, Jon Favreau's The Lion King didn’t have a single frame shot in a jungle. 

Techvis 

After the previs sequences have been created, the techvis team figures then out how everything will be physically shot in real life. 

Production stage

Motion capture

Motion capture, which is often referred to as performance capture, is one of the most recognizable ways to film a movie. Because of movies like Planet of the Apes and Avatar, people have become familiar with how motion capture works.

In short, motion capture is used to record human performances. The actors wear motion capture suits with small markers all over them. The markers track the movement of the actor, which sends the data to the software that is used to create a digital 3D character. This allows actors to be transformed into any creature, while still being able to give them a human-like feel.

Virtual Cameras

“Because filmmakers can see the world in real-time, they can react and make changes quickly to creatively explore, before an army of people get involved,” said Ben Grossmann of Magnopus. “Using VR also means they’re reacting naturally to the world they’ve created and discovering new perspectives they hadn’t thought of until they were standing there. Because it’s multiplayer, there’s a sense of teamwork where people are talking to each other and working together, each bringing their skills to the process.”

Post-production stage

Postvis

Postvis brings together all of the elements for the final cut. Editors use the live action, previs, and virtual production footage to create the end result- a completed film.